Gone
by monkey-in-hell
Summary: A2A one-shot.


A/N Complete nonsense inspired by something a colleague was telling me the other day (so blame him) and the idea wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it all down. Right, I'm going back to my (dark) corner now...

Gone

Ray placed another whiskey chaser next to the Guv and dared to take a seat at his table too. They'd all kept their distance for hours now, the Guv's mood had been that black, but the booze should be just about kicking in now; some would say 'About bloody time' whilst others would possibly comment on how one man could drink so much and still be conscious. "You could still get her back," Ray commiserated.

"No," Gene spat in response, "I won't." He snapped up the shot glass his DS had brought with him and knocked back its contents with one fell swoop, the liquid neither burning his throat or helping his sour mood.

Ray didn't want to be there, not really. He might have known the Guv the longest but, frankly, that just meant he knew how foul the man could get - with absolutely no disrespect intended by that assessment. And it seemed obvious that the booze had done little to temper that bad mood. But he'd drawn the short straw, literally - they'd used breadsticks (courtesy of Luigi) to decide who should go over to the lion's den. "You don't know that," Ray tried again but he knew, they all knew, that getting her back was a long shot. The way Gene was currently eyeing him confirmed the Guv was under no illusions either. She was highly sought after, admired wherever she went and the Guv was completely smitten with her; a strange combination given that she never reciprocated but Ray couldn't blame the Guv - he'd have had her himself given half the chance. But it was a bad combination too, for everyone involved, when she just disappeared without a trace. Well, Ray thought as his superior officer continued to glare at him, he wasn't going to do this alone - short straw or not. He glanced over to Chris, catching the younger man's eye and indicating with a scowl of his own that he should get his arse over here too.

"I'm never going to see her again," Gene growled, partly to himself but mostly to his DS in the hopes that the other man would leave. He just wanted to sit there and get drunk and forget all abut her. Why wasn't the booze helping? Why was Raymondo still sat there? He followed Ray's gaze only to find Chris nervously approaching. Reinforcements. Gene tried to look as menacing as possible to scare the younger man off but he must have failed miserably as the DC also took a seat at the table. He took another, large, swig, from his pint; they weren't who he wanted.

"I know how you feel, Guv," Chris said quietly, managing to complete the sentiment even as Ray kicked him in the shin part way through. Chris didn't particularly want to be here either, he always seemed to get the brunt of the Guv's anger. At least this wasn't actually his fault though the way his DCI was now looking at him that didn't seem to matter.

Gene slammed his glass down, his anger at the situation - and at his complete lack of control over what had happened - rising to the surface. "You don't have a bloody clue what I'm going through here! She was the best I ever had; needed a firm hand sometimes but she was a beauty. And now I've lost her. And she's never coming back!"

Chris glanced quickly at Ray only to find a scowl in response; he could still feel the Guv's eyes burning into his head so he looked behind, towards the bar, avoiding both glares, and desperately searching for Shazza. He felt only relief when his eyes found her walking towards them, a sheepish looking DI Drake behind her. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding on to, the action mirroring the look of relief now registering on Ray's face, but the Guv still looked pretty pissed off. It was time to get the Hell out of there; decision made, he rose quickly, grabbing a hold of Shaz's hand as he fled, only pausing momentarily to smile in commiseration at Alex.

Ray, having witnessed Chris' speedy departure, followed suit and beat a hasty retreat too, though only to a safe distance; he didn't want to be caught in the crossfire but he did want to watch the gunfight. He came to a rest at the bar, in front of Chris and Shaz - no one else from the station had dared come to Luigi's, suddenly more interested in catching up on paperwork - just in time to hear the fireworks begin.

"This is all your fault, Drake!" Gene hurled at the woman now taking Chris' recently abandoned seat.

"I really am sorry, Gene, but it's only a bloody car!"

This was why no one else was allowed to drive his car, especially his DIs; Tyler had put his Cortina in the river, Bolly had let the Quattro get stolen. Bloody woman had probably left the door unlocked and the keys in the ignition! And now she was giving him 'the big eyes' treatment - well, he wasn't going to fall for it. Avoiding her tactics he looked over her shoulder instead, where he could make out the watching eyes of his colleagues and he glared steadily at them until they dropped their gazes.

"I'll make it up to you," Alex said seductively.

His attention drawn back to her by that silky voice he watched her hand snake across the table, his anger dissipating as she got ever closer. Her hand came to rest on the back of his and he met her eyes once more, his anger fading completely as he realised that red, for all its vibrancy, really couldn't compete with the colour of her eyes and that sharp angles, with their straight lines, could never better the enticing curve of her mouth.


End file.
